EP1426729A1 - Thickness sensor for controlling laminator draw - Google Patents
Thickness sensor for controlling laminator draw Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP1426729A1 EP1426729A1 EP03257011A EP03257011A EP1426729A1 EP 1426729 A1 EP1426729 A1 EP 1426729A1 EP 03257011 A EP03257011 A EP 03257011A EP 03257011 A EP03257011 A EP 03257011A EP 1426729 A1 EP1426729 A1 EP 1426729A1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- rollers
- thickness sensor
- lamination
- arm
- machine
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Withdrawn
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Images
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B32—LAYERED PRODUCTS
- B32B—LAYERED PRODUCTS, i.e. PRODUCTS BUILT-UP OF STRATA OF FLAT OR NON-FLAT, e.g. CELLULAR OR HONEYCOMB, FORM
- B32B37/00—Methods or apparatus for laminating, e.g. by curing or by ultrasonic bonding
- B32B37/14—Methods or apparatus for laminating, e.g. by curing or by ultrasonic bonding characterised by the properties of the layers
- B32B37/16—Methods or apparatus for laminating, e.g. by curing or by ultrasonic bonding characterised by the properties of the layers with all layers existing as coherent layers before laminating
- B32B37/18—Methods or apparatus for laminating, e.g. by curing or by ultrasonic bonding characterised by the properties of the layers with all layers existing as coherent layers before laminating involving the assembly of discrete sheets or panels only
- B32B37/182—Methods or apparatus for laminating, e.g. by curing or by ultrasonic bonding characterised by the properties of the layers with all layers existing as coherent layers before laminating involving the assembly of discrete sheets or panels only one or more of the layers being plastic
- B32B37/185—Laminating sheets, panels or inserts between two discrete plastic layers
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B32—LAYERED PRODUCTS
- B32B—LAYERED PRODUCTS, i.e. PRODUCTS BUILT-UP OF STRATA OF FLAT OR NON-FLAT, e.g. CELLULAR OR HONEYCOMB, FORM
- B32B38/00—Ancillary operations in connection with laminating processes
- B32B38/0036—Heat treatment
- B32B38/004—Heat treatment by physically contacting the layers, e.g. by the use of heated platens or rollers
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B32—LAYERED PRODUCTS
- B32B—LAYERED PRODUCTS, i.e. PRODUCTS BUILT-UP OF STRATA OF FLAT OR NON-FLAT, e.g. CELLULAR OR HONEYCOMB, FORM
- B32B41/00—Arrangements for controlling or monitoring lamination processes; Safety arrangements
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B32—LAYERED PRODUCTS
- B32B—LAYERED PRODUCTS, i.e. PRODUCTS BUILT-UP OF STRATA OF FLAT OR NON-FLAT, e.g. CELLULAR OR HONEYCOMB, FORM
- B32B2309/00—Parameters for the laminating or treatment process; Apparatus details
- B32B2309/08—Dimensions, e.g. volume
- B32B2309/10—Dimensions, e.g. volume linear, e.g. length, distance, width
- B32B2309/105—Thickness
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B32—LAYERED PRODUCTS
- B32B—LAYERED PRODUCTS, i.e. PRODUCTS BUILT-UP OF STRATA OF FLAT OR NON-FLAT, e.g. CELLULAR OR HONEYCOMB, FORM
- B32B2309/00—Parameters for the laminating or treatment process; Apparatus details
- B32B2309/14—Velocity, e.g. feed speeds
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B32—LAYERED PRODUCTS
- B32B—LAYERED PRODUCTS, i.e. PRODUCTS BUILT-UP OF STRATA OF FLAT OR NON-FLAT, e.g. CELLULAR OR HONEYCOMB, FORM
- B32B2309/00—Parameters for the laminating or treatment process; Apparatus details
- B32B2309/70—Automated, e.g. using a computer or microcomputer
- B32B2309/72—For measuring or regulating, e.g. systems with feedback loops
Abstract
Description
- The present invention relates to laminators of the type used to laminate a sheet such as a photograph, certificate or chart for example between a pair of transparent plastics sheets. More particularly, although not exclusively, the invention relates to a laminator having a mechanism for detecting the thickness of the layers to be laminated and means for adjusting the through-speed of the sheets past the laminator's heating rollers depending upon the detected thickness.
- Known laminators comprise a pair of internally heated rollers that are biased toward one another or at a fixed spacing and in between which the layers to be laminated are pressed. The heat from the rollers melts an adhesive surface on each of the plastics sheets and the melted laminate infuses to some extent into the sheet that is being laminated. Cards and thin paper are relatively straightforward to laminate because a pre-set temperature and speed setting of the rollers achieves the necessary adhesion between the layers. However, when a thick sheet of cardboard for example is to be laminated, the pre-set temperature and speed setting can result in insufficient adhesive penetration to the cardboard, and consequent ease of delamination of the finished product. For this reason, the laminated finished product might have to be passed a second time through the machine and perhaps even a third. This can result in loss of productivity or even damage to the finished product.
- It is an object of the present invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate the above disadvantage and/or more generally to provide a thickness sensor for a lamination machine and a lamination machine incorporating a thickness sensor and speed-controlled lamination/heating rollers.
- There is disclosed herein A thickness sensor for layered sheet material entering a lamination machine, comprising:
- an arm movable upon interaction with the layered sheet material, and
- an electrical conductor mounted to the arm and providing a pair of exposed electrical contacts, and a printed circuit board having exposed tracks engaged by respective ones of the electrical contacts, and resistors electrically connecting adjacent portions of at least one of the tracks so as to provide variable resistance output dependent upon the position of the arm.
-
- Preferably the tracks each comprise an end portion electrically isolated from one another and engaged by respective ones of the electrical contacts for indicating that the lamination is too thick.
- Preferably one of said end portions comprises a sub portion electrically isolated therefrom and engaged by one of the electrical contacts for providing a warning signal that the lamination is of maximum allowable thickness.
- Preferably the arm is pivotally mounted upon a pivot pin and the tracks are curved.
- Preferably the arm comprises a roller at one end engagable with the layered sheet material and the pivot pin is closer to the roller than it is to the electrical contacts.
- There is further disclosed herein a lamination machine comprising:
- a pair of heated rollers between which layers of sheet material are pressed for lamination, and
- the above-disclosed thickness sensor attached to the machine at a location upstream of the rollers and cooperating with the machine to vary the speed of rotation of the rollers.
-
- Preferably at least one of said rollers is driven by an electric motor, the operational speed of which is affected by the thickness sensor.
- Preferably the machine further comprises a pair of withdrawal rollers downstream of the heated rollers.
- Preferably the withdrawal rollers rotate in unison with the heated rollers via a gear train therebetween.
- A preferred form of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
- Figure 1 is a schematic perspective illustration of a thickness sensor for layered sheet material,
- Figure 2 is a schematic perspective illustration of the thickness sensor of Figure 1 when viewed from another angle,
- Figure 3 is a schematic cross-sectional elevational view of a lamination machine having attached thereto the thickness sensor of Figures 1 and 2, and
- Figure 4 is a schematic perspective illustration of the rollers and gear train ensuring rotation of the rollers in unison.
-
- In Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings there is depicted schematically a
thickness sensor 10.Sensor 10 comprises a casing within which there is mounted a printed circuit board (PCB) 16. There is anarm 18 mounted upon apivot pin 17 about which acoil spring 24 is wound. The coil spring lightly biases the arm into the orientation depicted in the Figures. One end of the arm extends out of a casing and supportsrollers 11 to bear against the downward-facing surface of a stack of three sheets to be laminated. This would usually be the bottom transparent plastics sheet, between two of which a photograph for example is to be laminated. - There is an
idler 12 positioned above theroller 11 mounted at each end by anidler support 13. Each idler support 13 projects telescopically and downwardly from aspring casing 15 within which acoil spring 14 is located. Thecoil spring 14 maintains theidler 12 at a datum position, but allows for upward movement of theidler 12, should the overall height of the layered sheets of material be too high. Should such be the case, the lamination machine will shut down by virtue of a feature to be described later. - The
arm 18 has an electricallyconductive bus 21 therein. There are twosprings arm 18 and the PCB 16. There might be electrical brushes attached to thesprings tracks - As shown in Figure 1, the distance between the
pivot pin 17 and therollers 11 is significantly less than the distance between thepivot pin 17 and the electrical contacts andtracks arm 18 result in large movements of the electrical contacts and thus a relatively large-scale PCB design can be adopted. - One of the
tracks 22 is substantially continuous, but includes an electrically isolatedend portion 22A. Theother track 23 is divided into a plurality of short segments attached electrically and in sequence with surface-mountedresistors 24. Alongside thetrack portion 22A, thetrack 23 comprises electrically isolatedportions - As the layers of sheet material engaged the
roller 11, thearm 18 pivot is about pivot in 17 againstspring 24. - The contact brushes attached to the
springs tracks short portions 23, resistance of thesensor 10 changes. This provides a near-continuous variable resistance that can be used to control the speed at which the rollers (to be described later) are driven. - When the
arm 18 is aligned acrossportions arm 16 aligns acrosstrack portions - The
thickness sensor 10 is attached to a lamination machine by amounting 25 from which there extends amounting spring 26 that passes through an eye 34 to retain the sensor. - The lamination machine itself comprises a pair of heated feed rollers comprising a resilient rolling
surface 26 surrounding aheater 28. At least one of these would be driven by an electric motor (not shown). There is also a pair ofdownstream withdrawal rollers 30, at least one of which is driven to rotate in unison with thefeed rollers 26. A pair ofgear trains 32 achieves this, one at each end of the rollers. In order to cause rotation of the rollers, an electric motor can be coupled to any one of the gears of one or bothgear trains 32, or one of the rollers directly. - Situated in between the feed rollers and the withdrawal rollers is an
additional heater 29. - In use, sheets to be laminated are presented at the upstream end of the lamination machine, perhaps upon a support tray 33. The sheets are fed by hand into the machine whereupon the bottom sheet engages the
roller 11. In turn, thearm 18 takes on a pivotal orientation indicative of the thickness of the stack of sheets thereby inducing an appropriate resistance in thesensor 10. This resistance is read and relayed to the motor to affect the throughput speed of the material. The feed rollers draw the sheets in at a speed appropriate for the material thickness and heat is applied by theheaters 28 to soften the adhesive on the inwardly facing surfaces of the outer plastics layers. The molten adhesive is then at least partially infused into the middle layer. Thesupplementary heaters 29 then apply further heat to the sheet en route to thewithdrawal rollers 30 that are rotating in unison with the feed rollers. The withdrawal rollers also have a resilient surface to press the sheets together and then present the sheets at a dispensingtray 31 for collection. - It should be appreciated that modifications and alterations obvious to those skilled in the art are not to be considered as beyond the scope of the present invention. For example, the arm might move linearly instead of pivotally and the rollers might be caused to rotate in unison by means other than a gear train. Furthermore, instead of and/or in addition to controlling the draw speed, the thickness sensor's resistance reading might be used to control the heat produced by the heaters.
Claims (9)
- A thickness sensor for layered sheet material entering a lamination machine, comprising:an arm movable upon interaction with the layered sheet material, andan electrical conductor mounted to the arm and providing a pair of exposed electrical contacts, and a printed circuit board having exposed tracks engaged by respective ones of the electrical contacts, and resistors electrically connecting adjacent portions of at least one of the tracks so as to provide variable resistance output dependent upon the position of the arm.
- The thickness sensor of Claim 1 wherein the tracks each comprise an end portion electrically isolated from one another and engaged by respective ones of the electrical contacts for indicating that the lamination is too thick.
- The thickness sensor of Claim 2 wherein one of said end portions comprises a sub portion electrically isolated therefrom and engaged by one of the electrical contacts for providing a warning signal that the lamination is of maximum allowable thickness.
- The thickness sensor of Claim 1 wherein the arm is pivotally mounted upon a pivot pin and the tracks are curved.
- The thickness sensor of Claim 4 wherein the arm comprises a roller at one end engagable with the layered sheet material and the pivot pin is closer to the roller than it is to the electrical contacts.
- A lamination machine comprising:a pair of heated rollers between which layers of sheet material are pressed for lamination, andthe thickness sensor of Claim 1 attached to the machine at a location upstream of the rollers and cooperating with the machine to vary the speed of rotation of the rollers.
- The lamination machine of Claim 6 wherein at least one of said rollers is driven by an electric motor, the operational speed of which is affected by the thickness sensor.
- The lamination machine of Claim 6 further comprising a pair of withdrawal rollers downstream of the heated rollers.
- The lamination machine of Claim 8 wherein the withdrawal rollers rotate in unison with the heated rollers via a gear train therebetween.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
CN02250023 | 2002-12-04 | ||
CN02250023U CN2589929Y (en) | 2002-12-04 | 2002-12-04 | Inching position detector for gluing machine |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP1426729A1 true EP1426729A1 (en) | 2004-06-09 |
Family
ID=29427511
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP03257011A Withdrawn EP1426729A1 (en) | 2002-12-04 | 2003-11-06 | Thickness sensor for controlling laminator draw |
Country Status (7)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (1) | US6717521B1 (en) |
EP (1) | EP1426729A1 (en) |
JP (1) | JP2004181960A (en) |
CN (1) | CN2589929Y (en) |
AU (1) | AU2003262224A1 (en) |
CA (1) | CA2449003A1 (en) |
RU (1) | RU2003132763A (en) |
Cited By (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
GB2447849A (en) * | 2007-03-30 | 2008-10-01 | Primax Electronics Ltd | Sheet laminating apparatus |
EP2210738A1 (en) * | 2009-01-22 | 2010-07-28 | Tiko Corporation Limited | Pouch laminator and method of lamination |
Families Citing this family (8)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
KR200287509Y1 (en) * | 2002-05-21 | 2002-09-05 | 로얄소브린 주식회사 | Revolution and Reverse Revolution Control Device of Lamiinater |
US8059982B2 (en) * | 2004-01-23 | 2011-11-15 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Printing device with laminating functionality |
GB2456287B (en) * | 2008-01-04 | 2010-06-09 | Primax Electronics Ltd | Laminating apparatus |
TWI317689B (en) * | 2008-01-04 | 2009-12-01 | Primax Electronics Ltd | Laminator with material thickness-detecting function |
TWI344417B (en) * | 2009-02-06 | 2011-07-01 | Primax Electronics Ltd | Continuous variable speed-changing transmission mechanism for a sheet laminating appatatus |
US8074691B2 (en) * | 2009-12-03 | 2011-12-13 | Tex Year Industries Inc. | Thickness measuring device of laminating machine |
DE102014109496A1 (en) * | 2014-07-08 | 2016-01-14 | Bundesdruckerei Gmbh | Method for assessing the quality of a lamination of a film composite |
CN105526856A (en) * | 2016-01-07 | 2016-04-27 | 浙江智源办公设备制造有限公司 | Automatic thickness measuring device |
Citations (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US5160399A (en) * | 1989-09-25 | 1992-11-03 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Laminating apparatus |
EP0764830A1 (en) * | 1995-09-25 | 1997-03-26 | MAGNETI MARELLI S.p.A. | A silk-screen-printed electric circuit particularly for a measuring instrument |
US6483421B1 (en) * | 1998-05-11 | 2002-11-19 | Siemens Vdo Automotive Ag | Carrier substrate with a resistor track |
EP1260800A2 (en) * | 2001-05-23 | 2002-11-27 | Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft | Method and device for determining the filling level in fuel containers |
Family Cites Families (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US3826487A (en) * | 1972-01-24 | 1974-07-30 | Polygraph Leipzig | Control apparatus and method for transporting sheets |
US5306381A (en) * | 1990-06-11 | 1994-04-26 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Laminating apparatus |
-
2002
- 2002-12-04 CN CN02250023U patent/CN2589929Y/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
-
2003
- 2003-02-19 US US10/367,746 patent/US6717521B1/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 2003-11-04 RU RU2003132763/28A patent/RU2003132763A/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 2003-11-06 EP EP03257011A patent/EP1426729A1/en not_active Withdrawn
- 2003-11-12 CA CA002449003A patent/CA2449003A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2003-11-13 AU AU2003262224A patent/AU2003262224A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2003-11-28 JP JP2003398685A patent/JP2004181960A/en active Pending
Patent Citations (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US5160399A (en) * | 1989-09-25 | 1992-11-03 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Laminating apparatus |
EP0764830A1 (en) * | 1995-09-25 | 1997-03-26 | MAGNETI MARELLI S.p.A. | A silk-screen-printed electric circuit particularly for a measuring instrument |
US6483421B1 (en) * | 1998-05-11 | 2002-11-19 | Siemens Vdo Automotive Ag | Carrier substrate with a resistor track |
EP1260800A2 (en) * | 2001-05-23 | 2002-11-27 | Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft | Method and device for determining the filling level in fuel containers |
Cited By (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
GB2447849A (en) * | 2007-03-30 | 2008-10-01 | Primax Electronics Ltd | Sheet laminating apparatus |
GB2447849B (en) * | 2007-03-30 | 2009-12-09 | Primax Electronics Ltd | Sheet laminating apparatus |
EP2210738A1 (en) * | 2009-01-22 | 2010-07-28 | Tiko Corporation Limited | Pouch laminator and method of lamination |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
CN2589929Y (en) | 2003-12-03 |
CA2449003A1 (en) | 2004-06-04 |
JP2004181960A (en) | 2004-07-02 |
AU2003262224A1 (en) | 2004-06-24 |
RU2003132763A (en) | 2005-04-20 |
US6717521B1 (en) | 2004-04-06 |
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